Many Americans can agree that since the first campaigns of the 2016 elections, the political divide in the U.S. has widened and created a much more aggressive political climate within our society and government as a result of the support toward Donald Trump.  This divide can be considered to be connected to the major disagreements with the other side, generalizations of the other side, and popular media biases.

American political feuds are not new to us – since the beginning of the United States of America different political parties have clashed for supremacy in the government, such as the Federalists vs. Democratic-Republicans, Whigs vs. Democrats, and Democrats vs. Republicans. In our present day, the dominating political parties are the Democrats and Republicans whom on one side follow more liberal ideologies (Democrats) while the other side follows more conservative ideologies (Republicans). Aside from following a liberal program, Democrats also tend to promote a strong central government and expansive social programs, while Republicans tend to promote a limited central government and strong national defense. It is evident that these completely contrasting ideas would create a conflict within our nation’s political parties. However, the past decades have seen a slow separation of political ideals in our government with each Congress splitting further in political agreement. Why? Some may point out that it is because many Republicans continue to stick with traditional values in the changing world, while Democrats support new ideas and progressiveness in our society. These disagreements have also coaxed many Americans to attack the other side which only widens the political gap in our nation.

Stereotypes and generalizations have hurt race, gender, etc., however, one of the most influential of these are those that are directed toward political parties/ideologies. The issue of political stereotypes may be one of the most influential reasons for the political divide between U.S. citizens (and some non-U.S. citizens). Why? Because, like most stereotypes, a specific image of what’s most popularly spoken about a demographic is engrained into one’s head, and when someone who has been exposed to the stereotype encounters someone from that demographic, a pre-conceived notion is already established. A popular stereotype for Democrats is the “alt-left”/radical liberal group or ANTIFA supporters. While popular Republican stereotypes is the “alt-right”/radical Republican group or Nazi sympathizers. These generalizations most definitely do not associate with a majority of Democrats and Republicans, yet these stereotypes are driving forces in society. Not only are these stereotypes a result of public creation, but also connected to television and media.

The mainstream media is an immediate outlet for information for most of the public; however, bias in media is almost unavoidable with only one half of the story being spoken, topics that paint an entire demographic into a generalization, and outright “fake news”. Some of the most popular news outlets in the country are completely against each other (usually politically divided) and this, of course, causes bias to be widely outspoken to the public which only fazes what is true and what is not. CNN and Fox News can be constantly seen throwing remarks toward each other, with CNN being more liberal leaning, and Fox News being more conservative. The bias in the media has caused many to not receive the full story, causing many to go uninformed about the topic and grow a dislike toward the other political party. Phrases such as “fake news” have been at an all time high after Donald Trump used it, and it only is continued to be used on both sides (usually on the Republican side). With the media divided, it only divides the people of our country more, creating a larger problem then there once was.

There are many more reasons as to why the political divide in our country has grown into a chasm, but for now the people of our country can only work together to bring our nation together again. This nation should not be split into two, it should be seen as a nation in one.